Prophetic Medicine: ‘A Holistic Approach to Medicine’

Abstract

It is well known that certain Islamic Jurists and Scholars like Imam Bukari, Imam Muslim, and Imam Tirmizi, did exhaustive research to collect the sayings and traditions of our beloved Prophet PBUH. They then presented their collected works as 'Al Hadith' of the Prophet to the populace. Not only were these authenticated, as to their degree of authenticity, but each of the witnesses, or the chain of witnesses was scrutinized in depth, to ensure their veracity and truthfulness. Thereafter degrees were assigned to each saying or tradition depending upon outcome of this, in depth research. Thus each Hadith had to undergo this rigorous analysis before being accepted for inclusion in the works (Al Hadith) of these scholars. Later Jurists like Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya and ad Dahabbi were able to collect the Hadith and Sunnah related to health hygiene, diseases and remedies into scholarly works for the general populace, who held great reverence and love for the Prophet and desired to know his opinions on every subject including these health and medical subjects. Never claiming to be a physician himself and many a times directing his ashabees (companions) to seek the help of a doctor, he none the less on many occasions gave advice on simple ailments, sicknesses and illnesses that he encountered during his life time. These were all faithfully recorded and collected and came to be termed as “Prophetic Medicine”. In the realm of health, hygiene, prevention and treatment of maladies, the Prophet employed both popular remedies of his time as well as spiritual remedies. The latter comprised of recitation of verses of the Holy Quran, duas or prayers (nafl prayers) on various occasions, with successes recorded from his actions by various ‘ashabees’ or companions.. Thus, his was a true “holistic” approach to problems of health. Prior to Islam the spiritual aspects of cure were left to the priests and the treatment of the body was in the domain of physicians, surgeons, orthopedists and ophthalmologists. By combining the two, and blending these philosophies together our Prophet can be considered one of the first ones to use a truly "holistic approach to the cure of disease". In this article we will examine in some detail these combined aspects of “Prophetic Medicine” which can truly be considered a 'Holistic" approach to Medicine.